


The Last Act

by saellys



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Again, Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Everybody Dies, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-01-16
Packaged: 2018-09-18 00:17:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9353294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saellys/pseuds/saellys
Summary: K-2 turns around as the rest of them stop before the airlock; Jyn dangles by the waist like a misbehaving child. Her expression is bewildered, and Bodhi can’t help the laugh that escapes him, brittle and more than a little hysterical.He claps his hand over his mouth at once because this is a serious moment, but then Jyn laughs too, and then Cassian turns in Bodhi’s grasp, hanging off of him and resting his forehead on Bodhi’s shoulder as he shakes and wheezes with the biggest grin on his face, and Baze softly explains, “The droid is holding Jyn under one arm and they look ridiculous,” to Chirrut, but Chirrut is already laughing because the way they look is only part of it and Chirrut can surely feel the relief coursing through all of them.It’s over. They’re finished now. They did enough.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So I've been thinking a lot about the version of Rogue One where the get the plans out via the beach, and how that scenario might have ended, and I did myself a sad, and now here we are. 
> 
> There's a... certain character I intentionally neglected to tag in this, for spoiler purposes. :)))))))

A _Zeta_ -class cargo shuttle is not a landspeeder, but Bodhi flies it like one just this once, regulations be damned. The thrusters make curtains of spray when he clears the beach, and he turns hard, dragging the ramp on the surface of the water. The others don’t need coaxing to board; Bodhi screams for them to get in anyway.

“Fly,” K-2SO calls up the ladder, and Bodhi doesn’t need to be told twice. The shuttle’s fuselage strains as he pushes the throttle to full against gravity.

With the shield gate destroyed, he can choose any vector he likes. He sets the most direct course to _Profundity_. They’re still a few klicks out when Cassian sits heavily in the copilot’s seat, adjusting the strap of his blaster rifle. “ _Profundity_ ,” he says into the comm, “this is _Rogue One_ requesting permission to dock. The Death Star plans are in hand. Repeat, this is _Rogue One_ \--”

The name sounds so good when Cassian says it, even though he’s wheezing and hoarse. It sounds like a victory. Bodhi forces his thoughts back on task. They’re not finished yet.

“Permission granted, _Rogue One_. _Tantive IV_ awaits your arrival. Dock in bay nineteen and proceed to bay twenty-four.” Bodhi follows directions, then follows Cassian to the lower deck.

Jyn is already down the ramp with the stolen data tape, but her left leg is dragging and _Profundity_ ’s klaxons have started to sound and she’ll never make it five bays before _Tantive IV_ needs to leave.

Cassian nods at K-2 and the droid moves in long strides, reaches down, and picks Jyn up with one arm. She only protests a little.

K-2 crosses the bay and starts down the red-striped corridor, and the rest of them follow, first the Guardians, winded but still mobile, and then Bodhi holding Cassian up. _Profundity_ has taken a hit somewhere nearby, judging by the smoke that half-obscures Jyn and K-2, well ahead of the rest of them now.

They catch up just as Jyn hands the data tape over to a crewmember, who nods and then shuts the airlock in her face. Coolant vents on the other side of the door and Bodhi hears the familiar _whump_ of docking struts as _Tantive IV_ drops away, taking the plans where they cannot.

K-2 turns around as the rest of them stop before the airlock; Jyn dangles by the waist like a misbehaving child. Her expression is bewildered, and Bodhi can’t help the laugh that escapes him, brittle and more than a little hysterical. 

He claps his hand over his mouth at once because this is a serious moment, but then Jyn laughs too, and then Cassian turns in Bodhi’s grasp, hanging off of him and resting his forehead on Bodhi’s shoulder as he shakes and wheezes with the biggest grin on his face, and Baze softly explains, “The droid is holding Jyn under one arm and they look ridiculous,” to Chirrut, but Chirrut is already laughing because the way they look is only part of it and Chirrut can surely feel the relief coursing through all of them.

It’s over. They’re finished now. They did enough.

 _Profundity_ ’s emergency lights go out.

Bodhi stops laughing. He feels cold, despite Cassian’s arm around him.

Under the klaxon there is the sound of a hatch being pried open. And then the sound--

No.

The corridor fills with crimson light. Bodhi’s facing the wrong way but he sees it reflect in the others’ eyes.

Cassian shoves him. “Get behind me.” Bodhi stumbles, his legs aren’t moving right, but he makes it past Cassian and turns. Cassian shrugs his rifle into his hands, raises it, and fires at the shadow, his aim true despite all his injuries. 

The beam of crimson light moves, impossibly fast, to deflect every shot into the bulkhead. The shadow raises one hand and beckons. Cassian drops his rifle, arches up. The toes of his boots drag on the deckplates. 

In opposition to _Profundity_ ’s gravity and all the laws of nature and justice, Cassian is pulled forward until the beam passes through his chest and out between his shoulderblades.

 _No_. Maybe Bodhi screams, maybe only Jyn does. He scrambles backward as K-2 drops Jyn and charges. The shadow takes the blade out of Cassian, who lands on his knees. The shadow sidesteps K-2 and carves him from shoulder to hip. K-2 falls, smoking and orange-hot at the cut.

Jyn runs to Cassian and catches him as he slumps. She turns her back, heedless of the monster behind her, and puts her arms around him.

Chirrut moves, and Baze howls at him to stop, to come back to him. Chirrut finds a foothold on the bulkhead and springs up, striking with the metal end of his staff, and the blow _lands_ , the shadow flinches back, more surprised than anything, and it lifts its hand again and twists, and Chirrut in midair turns and changes direction and lands hard at Baze’s feet.

Baze kneels to take Chirrut’s hand. The sound of their praying is almost lost under the respirator.

Bodhi’s back hits something--the airlock. He can’t go any farther.

K-2, still functional, pulls himself to Jyn’s side and takes the blaster from her belt. He raises it and fires once, and his photoreceptors go dark when the shadow sends the bolt into K-2’s cranial casing.

Vader steps forward, around Jyn holding Cassian’s body. He faces her and beyond his cape Bodhi sees her scowl up at him, tears on her cheeks, defiant to the last. 

Vader raises his lightsaber, brings it down. Jyn falls.

“The Force is with me,” says Baze, and Vader turns, helmet tilted. “I am one with the Force. The Force is with me. I am one with the Force.” Baze gets to his feet, priming his rifle for a cascade of bolts, the likes of which Vader can’t possibly block in its entirety. “The Force is with me, and I am one with the Force. The Force is--”

The rifle slips from his hands. Baze claws at his collar. 

Vader makes a fist, and Bodhi hears a wet crunch. Baze collapses.

It’s quieter now. Bodhi is alone with the shadow. He’s going to die like Baze, or if he’s lucky, like Jyn.

If that’s the best he can hope for, what difference does it make if it happens here or in the cold, dark vacuum of space?

“The defector,” Vader pronounces as he steps over Chirrut and Baze and closes the distance to Bodhi. Bodhi looks up into the black and empty eyepieces of that awful helmet, and sees in one side his own trembling and terrified face, and in the other a crack, where Chirrut struck. “A coward even now. Still, you may yet be of some--”

No. Bodhi is not a coward. He takes a deep breath and, still trembling, musters a sneer.

He pulls the manual override.

The airlock blasts open and the corridor depressurizes in a squall of escaping air that sweeps them both out. The magnetic field in bay twenty-four will reactivate after a five second delay. Longer if the main reactor is down.

 _Five_. Bodhi watches vapor and debris jet out around them. At this altitude Scarif’s gravity is weak, but it’s enough to pull. He drifts down.

 _Four_. Vader flails a few meters away. _You didn’t expect that, did you?_ The sneer is still on Bodhi’s lips and he’s comfortable with dying that way.

 _Three_. Bodhi blows out the air that’s starting to sour in his lungs. How much oxygen does that fancy black suit hold? Probably not enough. Probably.

 _Two_. They are clear of the bay and _Profundity_ dwindles even as stars dance at the edge of his vision. _This is for all of them_.

 _One_.


End file.
